Guest column: A foreclosure moratorium would ease a burden

Everywhere you look today, you see real-life examples of how the economy is forcing hard-working families in your community to make difficult choices.

Through no fault of their own, our neighbors, friends and relatives are being forced to choose between food or heat, medication or a mortgage payment.

No one should have to go hungry in order to pay their electric bill, or skip their heart medication to avoid foreclosure.

Now is also not the time to look out for yourself; it’s time to join together as a community to help our neighbors through this difficult time.

That is why I support Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s recent call-to-action for the nation’s top lenders to halt foreclosures in Michigan.

This moratorium may be on the table because of alleged questionable banking practices, but in reality it is necessary to ease a burden for hard-working families that are simply trying to make ends meet.

In Michigan, one in every 208 homes received a foreclosure filing in September, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosures in Kent County jumped 71.1 percent — from 5,063 homes to 17,562 homes — between 2005 and 2009.

People are hurting and need help providing for their families.

But the pain is not limited to poorer, urban communities. People living in the suburbs and wealthier areas of the state also are facing the same harsh realities: hunger, unemployment, foreclosure.

In fact, the suburbs — once-considered sanctuaries free of poverty — are now home to one-third of the nation’s poor, a number that is on the rise, according to a study by the Brookings Institute released earlier this month.

The institute’s review of census figures determined that since 2000, the number of poor people living in the suburbs skyrocketed 37.4 percent to 13.7 million.

In Kent County, the comparison of city-suburb residents who benefited from assistance programs between July 2008 and September 2010 is a perfect example of the national trend:
Grandville saw the number of Medicaid recipients go up more than 54 percent; and the number of people receiving food assistance went up more than 67 percent.

Rockford saw more than a 56 percent increase in Medicaid recipients and a more than 64 percent increase in food assistance.

Grand Rapids saw a 39 percent increase in Medicaid recipients and more than a 29 percent increase in food assistance.

So, now, I call on others to reach out to local, state and national leaders to support this moratorium on home foreclosure sales. Tell them we need to stop foreclosures to give hard-working families a fighting chance.

But, more importantly, I encourage people to do the right thing and lend a hand to others in need.

You can call the United Way at 2-1-1 for information on volunteer and donation opportunities for community-based organizations.

Ismael Ahmed is director of the Michigan Department of Human Services in Lansing.

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